A Clear and Certain Explanation

Luke chapter 20. I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving. I know me and my family did and my oldest daughter is on the road right now and so I checked her location right before I stepped up here. We're still doing good so I got that on my mind.

Luke 20 · chapter mention

If you look at the life of Christ and the ministry of Christ it is somewhat mysterious at times and it sure is interesting. So much of the message especially after his resurrection commands us to tell others about his saving and his healing power.

However, earlier in his ministry he told folks to be quiet about what he did. In Matthew chapter 8 he heals a leper and he says see that you say nothing to anyone about this healing.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

In Matthew chapter 9 he heals two blind men and Jesus sternly warned them see that no one knows about this. In Matthew chapter 16 he told his disciples tell no one that he was the Christ.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention Matthew 16 · chapter mention

In Matthew chapter 17 at that mount of transfiguration when those three apostles noticed this amazing sight that they saw, this vision that they saw of Christ transfiguring on that mount.

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

He said tell no one of this vision until the son of man has been risen from the dead.

Strange at first but a simple explanation is that it was all a matter of timing.

Christ was in the midst of his ministry of training his disciples to establish the groundwork for the church before he should as Luke 9 verse 51 which I mentioned last week is a tremendous chapter here that of setting his face toward Jerusalem.

Luke 9:51

However, then he arrives in Jerusalem and he's different.

What he's asked to be quiet about what he's asked to somewhat stay dormant at times so that he could further the ministry before the church leaders of all people would come after him.

Now he's very open about it.

He's made his way to Jerusalem and he's different.

He is open.

He is boldly proclaiming.

He is clear completely about his message and what he'd have for us to share.

He makes his triumphal entry.

He cleanses the temple by turning the tables in the marketplace.

He stirs up the chief priest and the scribes by teaching daily to the massive crowds that they could do nothing about.

And then they ask him.

In Luke chapter 20 verse 2 they said tell us by what authority you do these things.

Luke 20:2

Or who is it that gave you this authority?

And he follows that with a parable.

One of his last parables, some scholars believe it was the last one chronologically that he shared.

And it's a parable that is clear.

Some parables take interpretation.

This one's quite clear.

No one's asking questions about what this means.

At least not in this setting.

He was certain.

He was clear.

Folks, I want to be certain.

And I want to be clear this morning.

Luke chapter 20 beginning in verse 9.

Luke 20 · chapter mention

And he began to tell the people this parable.

A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.

When the time came he sent a servant to the tenants so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.

But the tenants beat him and they sent him away empty handed.

And he sent another servant.

But they also beat and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed.

And he sent yet a third.

This one also they wounded and cast out.

Then the owner of the vineyard said, what shall I do?

I'll send my beloved son.

Perhaps they'll respect him.

But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, this is the heir.

Let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.

And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

He'll come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.

Now in this story, the man is God.

And the vineyard is Israel.

And the tenants are the Israelites.

Particularly the church establishment there.

The scribes and the Pharisees that are questioning him and who he's calling out.

And the sent servants are the prophets.

The son of the owner in this story is Jesus.

And when they throw him out of the vineyard in the story, he is saying, you will throw me out of Jerusalem.

And he was thrown out of Jerusalem.

As a matter of fact, he carried a cross out of Jerusalem.

And they killed him outside the city.

Hebrews chapter 13 verse 12 says, so Jesus also suffered outside the gate.

Hebrews 13:12

That means outside the city.

In order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

And then lastly, this parable says that those who do not welcome the son, those who do not welcome Christ will be destroyed.

It is that simple.

And after he told this, he didn't back off.

He warned of the dangers of the religious leaders.

They tried to question him with tough topics and tried to silence them.

And instead he silences them.

In verse 40, it says of that same chapter, it says they dare not ask him anything else.

They began to try to eliminate him.

He speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem.

That would happen 40 years, almost to the day in which he spoke it.

And he speaks of his return and when he's coming.

He is now very open about all of that.

So I want to be just as open this morning about what that means to us today.

Let's get this straight.

Look at this last parable together.

And then we'll look toward Christmas together.

But let's get this down.

One is this.

Everyone is not pleased to hear of Jesus.

It was true in that day.

It's true today.

If you look at the history of the welcomes that the prophets of God,

these servants that the owner of the vineyard keeps sending in,

that's what that represents.

Look at the prophets.

They were not received very warmly.

At times they were ignored.

Amos was told to hush.

Jonah was a part of our,

he was the most reluctant evangelist you'll ever find.

He was a part of a revival that he didn't want to happen.

But the sad thing was two generations later,

Nahum lets us know that Nineveh was just as bad as it was before that

spiritual awakening had happened.

They went right back to the way in which they lived before.

At times prophets were attacked.

Elijah was threatened and chased by Jezebel.

Micaiah was slapped and imprisoned for telling the truth.

When others wouldn't tell the truth in 1 Kings 22,

Zechariah was stoned to death between the temple and the altar.

Yet God continued graciously to bring his messengers to the tenants.

Now remember, he brought him to the tenants, not the owners.

They didn't own the vineyard.

They were just maintaining the vineyard.

And of course the one that stands out the most was Jesus speaks,

and he speaks directly to them, was John the Baptist.

Who when John the Baptist came speaking,

they were reluctant to hear what he had to say, resisted that.

And of course, because he spoke so boldly against the sin in Herod's life,

and because he was so influenced by evil people,

John the Baptist died

for standing up for his faith.

He spoke all this to the tenants.

Not the owner of the vineyard.

God's the owner, just the tenants.

And I want you to understand

that whatever you have and whatever you are,

we are tenants.

We are maintaining what God has given us.

We're not in charge.

We have a responsibility to that that's invested in us.

But this vineyard is not ours.

This vineyard is his.

We're to make the most of this life that he has given us

because we're sinners.

And our only hope is to do that,

what God has given us to do in our lives.

To make the most of the life that God has given us.

And he is gracious, and he is patient,

but I want you to understand, he is not indifferent.

He's very involved and cares a lot.

Don't ever get confused that the patience of God

is the thought that he's not deeply involved

with our response to him.

Because he is.

And notice that when they did not welcome the first ones,

the owner graciously did not remove the tenants.

He kept giving them new opportunities.

Now it's interesting

that he comes back to these sharecroppers

sharecroppers to get the profits

from what they had raised.

And as the harvest comes in,

you would send people in in stages.

When the first part of it came in,

you'd send somebody to collect it,

a messenger to collect it.

And when the second part came in,

you'd send them again.

Well, the owner noticed that on the first time,

when they didn't respond to him,

he didn't give up on them.

He sent another.

He sent another.

And the response was the same.

I want you to know

that everyone is not pleased to hear of Jesus.

Second thing is this.

Everyone does not welcome Jesus.

Obviously here, the landowner then sends his son.

And the tenants threw him out and killed him.

And Jesus is obviously,

prophetically speaking,

of the mistreatment and his impending death.

And notice in this story,

before they kill him,

they see him coming

and they say in the story

that Jesus told,

if we kill him,

it could all be ours.

You want to know why people don't come to Christ?

Because they don't want to come to his way.

And in his way,

they want it their way.

We want it for ours.

They believe that coming to Christ

has given up too much.

They're afraid that they'll miss out

on what could be theirs.

And in reality,

they walk away

from the greatest opportunity

that they could ever have,

not realizing the ramifications.

I want you to understand something, Christian.

God is sending us out.

It's not time to be silent anymore.

It's not time to be quiet anymore.

Christ, his great commission,

sends us out

to share the love

of the Lord Jesus Christ with folks.

His last words before the ascension

is to make disciples.

As you go,

that don't mean,

hey, I'm all for

going somewhere,

doing a great work.

I'll lead one of these trips this summer.

We'll have a great time

serving the Lord together.

But before we get to the summer,

or before we get to a foreign land,

or before we get to another state,

we'll walk out of here today,

and somebody

will need to know

the truths of the Lord Jesus Christ.

they'll need to know the love of Christ.

And God will plant them

in our path.

And if we pray for God

to open our eyes

and see that

and have an opportunity

to share that,

he will.

He's faithful to do that.

He's sending us out.

His last words were

to make disciples as you go,

to lead them to publicly

confess their faith

through baptism.

Don't stop

until the word

is throughout the world.

He's sending us out.

He's not sending out

the guy beside you

on the pew.

He's not sending out

just the preacher.

It's not just for the staff.

No.

He's sending us out.

Now,

does that mean

they're going to be happy

to see us?

No,

but I want you

to understand something.

They are not rejecting us.

Years ago,

people used to come

to your doors

selling stuff

a lot more than they do now.

Praise God.

They don't do it much anymore,

but they used to.

And I remember one time

this sweet little girl

came to my door,

knocked on her,

rang our doorbell.

I opened the door.

She had Krispy Kreme donuts,

a dozen of them there.

She said,

were you willing to buy

my donuts

to help whatever cause

she made up?

But I said,

honey,

if you only knew

what one of them donuts

would do to me,

it would change my life.

I can't do that.

I gave her some money.

I didn't buy her donuts

and let her go.

I wasn't turning down her.

I was turning down them donuts

because I knew

if I bought them donuts

and I was home alone,

nobody ever know

I bought donuts.

I didn't want her donuts.

And when telemarketers

call me,

yeah,

I might be rejecting them.

I don't know about that,

but let me tell you something.

When you go in the Lord's name

and you share Christ

with somebody,

they're not rejecting you,

they're rejecting God.

When you give the gospel,

you present them

with an opportunity

that they have to do

something with.

And if they reject it,

it's not you.

I want you to get this

because I think

this holds people back

from sharing their faith openly.

Success in sharing

your faith with somebody,

sharing your faith

in Christ with somebody

is not salvation.

Success is when you share

and when you trust

the Lord of the harvest

to do with that seed

that you've sown,

whatever he chooses to do

and work in their life.

Our responsibility

is to share.

Their responsibility

is to respond in obedience.

We don't speak to people

about Christ for our fruition.

God has sent us

and he may already be working

in the hearts and the lives

of those that he's sending us to.

We have no idea

how God has worked

and moved in others' lives.

I had a guy walk in

the other day.

We had a door open

because there's renovation going on.

And a secretary was out.

And so this fellow

walked straight in,

walked straight in the office,

walked straight in my office,

which is fine.

Walked in my office.

And he told me,

he said,

I need to pray.

He said,

I'm Catholic,

but I need to pray.

And he told me

the burden that he had.

And I shared that with you

if you got reminded.

And I knew

because I had seen people

in the building

that I knew

that there would be

other people in the building.

I think some of our ladies

might have been up here.

And I knew that,

I knew what he probably wanted,

but I knew it may not be safe

for others

because I didn't know him.

And so I told him,

I said,

well, can I pray with you?

He said, yeah,

I'd appreciate that.

So we prayed over his need

and his burden.

When we got done praying,

I'm thinking,

why does a Catholic

walk into a Baptist church,

walk straight in this office

for somebody to pray for him?

I don't even think

he knows why he's here.

And I told him that.

I said,

I don't think you're here

because of the reason

you think you're here.

He's looked at me.

I said,

has there ever been

a time in your life

when you've asked

the Lord Jesus personally

to come into your heart

and life,

to save you

and to change you,

to forgive you

of your sins?

Has that ever happened to you?

He said, yeah.

I said, tell me about it.

So he told me about it.

I said, would you stake

eternity on that?

Excuse me?

I said,

if you were to die today

and God were to ask you,

why should I let you

into my heaven?

What do you think

you'd say?

He said, well,

I don't know what I could say.

I failed him so often.

I said, well,

I want you to know

what you can say.

And so in a kind of

discombobulated way

because of the way

the conversation was going,

I shared with him

what Romans says.

I started with Romans 10, 9,

that if you confess

with your mouth

Jesus is Lord

and believe in your heart

that God raised him

from the dead,

you shall be saved.

Now explain what that meant.

I explained that everyone

who calls upon the name

of the Lord,

verse 13,

shall be saved

and how the wages

of his sin

would cause death,

separation forever,

but the gift of God

is eternal life

through Jesus Christ,

our Lord.

God demonstrated

his own love for us

while we were yet

sinners Christ died for us

and I went through

all of that

and shared all that

with him

and then I said,

has anything like that

ever happened to you?

He said,

I think so.

I said,

if you were to die today,

again,

if you were to die today

and stand before God

and he would ask you

why should I let you

in his hand,

what do you think

he'd say?

He said,

because I committed

my life to Christ.

I said,

that's what I needed

to hear.

Have you ever

made that public?

He said,

no.

I said,

you've never told anybody?

He said,

no.

I said,

well,

it's time for you

to do that

and I explained

how scripture said

from Paul's example

in Romans 10,

9,

when he speaks

of openly confessing

Jesus as Lord,

that's not a quiet thing.

that's not something

that you do

in the pastor's study.

That's something

that you do

in the open

to boldly proclaim

your faith in Christ.

Paul is drawing

a comparison

to standing up

to the Roman Empire

and saying,

curious Christos,

Christ is Lord,

not Caesar is Lord,

Christ is Lord.

That's what he's doing there.

It's very bold

in what he said

and I said,

have you ever been baptized?

He said,

I've been baptized as a child.

I said,

well,

that was a baptism

into a church.

If you've never been baptized

as a believer

since you gave your heart

and life to the Lord,

since your beach experience,

if you've never given your heart,

if you've never been baptized,

you've got your baptism

out of order.

You've never been baptized

as a believer

and that is a first step

of obedience

when you give your heart

and life to the Lord

and I promise you,

listen to me,

I'm not just talking to him,

I'm talking to you.

If you've never done that

as a believer,

it'll be a hindrance

to you and your world.

I promise you,

the devil will cause

a lot of snares

in your path

because the first step

of obedience,

I mean,

if I was in a race,

it'd be a joke anyway

but if I were to stumble

out of the gate,

it'd be mighty hard

to even finish that race

and if you stumble

straight out of the gate

by never making that public,

how that's such a detriment

to your faith.

And so I challenged him

and I said,

I know this ain't

your church background

but I want you to know

you're welcome here

and if you come

and publicly acknowledge that,

we'll baptize you,

allow you to be a member

of this church.

I said,

what do you think about that?

He said,

God drew me here

for a reason today.

I don't have an issue

with that

and I said,

amen, brother

and I said,

we'll be praying

for your need

and I've shared that

with you.

I didn't intend

to share all that

but I'm telling you,

I texted that old boy

yesterday

and I'm praying

for him now

that God will do

a work in his life

and his salvation

will be secure

and he'll know that

beyond a shadow of a doubt

and that he'll publicly

profess that

and live for

the Lord Jesus.

but that's not

my responsibility.

My responsibility

was to share.

My responsibility

was to be sensitive

to the spirit of God

to pick up on the fact

that I'm in the midst

of a conversation

that I didn't intend

to be in.

Why am I in the middle of it

and I can't do a whole lot

for this fellow's needs

right now

so why am I doing it

and God said,

hey,

you're on to something.

And it don't have to happen

in a pastor study.

It can happen

in a restaurant.

It can happen

in a grocery store.

It can happen

in your neighborhood.

Our responsibility

is to not try

to figure out

who needs the gospel

but to assume

all need the gospel.

Share it

and allow them

to respond

and it's God's

responsibility

to save.

But I want you

to know

fresh out the gate

everyone does

not welcome Jesus.

They do not.

Third thing is this.

Anyone who does

not accept Jesus

is ruined.

They're ruined.

I'd love to be able

to tell you

about God

who looks past

all your sins

and wrongs

and mistakes

and will save you

from the doom

that a sinful humanity

must face.

but I can't tell you

that because

there's a mistake

that too many make

that God does not

that people make

about God's forgiveness.

When you refuse

to accept Christ

into your life

you refuse

to acknowledge

the weight

of all of your sin

and you refuse

the greatest gift

that could ever

be given

to you.

And when you refuse

the Lord Jesus

and do not respond

to him

in obedience

you will face

an eternal hell.

That ain't nice

to say right here

before Christmas.

We're supposed

to be coming off

of Thanksgiving

and being cheery

and nice.

But I want

to be certain

and I want

to be clear

this morning

Christ didn't

hold back.

it's just

as true today

as it was

when he said it.

I want you

to listen

to how Christ

describes it

in verses 17

and 18

of that same passage.

He says this

but he looked

I love this

he looked

directly at them

he wanted them

to get it

and said

what then

is this

that is written

the stone

that the builders

rejected

has become

the cornerstone

everyone who

falls on that

stone

will be broken

to pieces

and when it

falls on anyone

it will crush him.

Now that's a quote

from Isaiah 5

followed by

a reference

to Daniel chapter 2

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

and those

listening

would be a lot

more familiar

with those two passages

than most of us

are

because they knew

those very well.

They would be

familiar with both

of them.

The cornerstone

is the first stone

that was laid

and when that

cornerstone

was laid

everything else

came off

the edge

the angles

as well as

the rest of the

foundation

came off

of that

cornerstone.

You had to

get that right.

I was in a

building program

one time

and they built

the trenches

for the foundation

and I went

and looked at it

it was a

rectangular building

I went and looked

at it

I said

something's wrong

I said

where's this door

and they showed

me

they had dug

the foundations

in a wrong way

was that 90 degrees

it was wrong

I said

you gotta turn

this building

before you build it

you gotta turn

the building

they hadn't

got the

foundation

right

the whole

thing would

have been

off

my friend

you gotta

get the

cornerstone

right

that's what

he's talking

about

you gotta

get that

angle

correct

to start

with

Christ

is the

cornerstone

in which

we build

our life

on

he's the

cornerstone

that the

church is

built on

and the

word also

can be

translated

capstone

which is

the last

one that

goes in

place

this word

is so

appropriate

here

scripture

tells us

that

Solomon's

temple

had

80,000

stonemasons

working on

it

and that

the stones

were pre-cut

at a quarry

and delivered

to the site

first kings

tells us

that there

was not a

sound of

an iron

tool to

be made

on the

holy place

at all

they did

not want

to hear

them

working

so quietly

they constructed

that temple

get this

for seven

years

they worked

like that

and there's

a rabbinical

story

that goes

back to

the building

of the

temple

that one

day a

large

odd

shaped

stone

arrived

and they

thought it

was a

botched

stone

so they

laid that

stone

aside

and they

continued to

build

and as the

building progressed

that stone

got in the way

and so they

moved that

stone

and as they

continued to

build

that odd

shaped stone

was still in the

way and so

people were

stumbling over it

and so they

moved that

stone

again

and set it

over by itself

and let it

sit there

and toward

the end

of the

work

the

scaffolding

was set up

and they

were waiting

for the

capstone

to be placed

in the main

arch of the

temple

they began

to look

and to look

for that

piece

and noticed

that the

quarry had

not brought

the piece

that they

needed

for that

so they

told them

they asked

the quarry

the quarry

said we

sent it

a long

time ago

they looked

harder

and they

hid

and hid

in the

overgrowth

of the

brush

and the

trees

because they

had been

building for

seven years

they found

the stone

that had

been rejected

so long

ago

and it

perfectly

fit

in that

keystone

capstone

arched

way

and held

up the

weight

of the

building

because it

perfectly

fit

just like

the capstone

is the

last

and climactic

piece

that holds

it all

together

so the

Lord is

the cornerstone

our sure

foundation

is to build

our lives

on nothing

else but

Christ

and he's

also the

capstone

that is

the finale

that is

the final

piece of

the puzzle

the keystone

which all

else relies

on

Jesus Christ

is the

cornerstone

the starting

place

he's the

capstone

the end

scripture

calls him

the alpha

and the

omega

that means

the A

and the Z

he's the

author

of our

faith

he's the

finisher

of our

faith

he's what

we're made

of

the rest

of the

new

testament

assures

us

that he's

also the

foundation

of the

church

that is

to be

based

upon

the

church

is built

upon

Christ

it comes

and it

goes

with

Christ

if he's

not the

head

and before

it

I don't

want to

be a

part

of it

and the

potential

of this

church

or any

church

is not

limited

by our

inability

but instead

is enabled

by his

limitless

ability

if you were

to ask me

where First

Baptist Church

started

I could tell

you how a

group of

Baptists had a

burden for a

church in

this town

and how after

looking at

several plots

of land

they accepted

the lot that

was offered to

him by

J.M.

Stewart

I could tell

you how

29 people

left their

churches to

become charter

members of

this church

and how on

May 16th

1891

the Pickens

Baptist Church

was formed

with an

initial offering

of $7.42

and when I

read that I

thought Lord

let us have a

better offering

on Sunday

than that

please

$7.42

you know

what they did

with it

they sent it

to missions

I'll get to

that next

week

however if

you ask me

where the

church started

I'll point

you to

Jesus

the stone

the builders

rejected

the leader

of the

church

churches

the leaders

of the church

rejected

even killed

him

is in fact

who this

church

is built

upon

he's the

foundation

he's the

pinnacle

he's where

we begin

he's where

we end

and Colossians

tells us

he's the one

that holds

every other

part of us

together

if you ask

me what to

build your

life on

I'll tell

you Jesus

and if you

have to do

and you need

to respond

to it

because you

have to do

something

with Jesus

Jesus

said

you either

build your

life on

him

or you

stumble

over him

or you

get crushed

because of

your response

you either

build your

life upon

him or

he'll mess

you up

for all

of eternity

by rejecting

him

Jesus

is what

we build

our lives

on

and he

said that

some fall

on this

stone

and get

broken

and others

are crushed

by it

and I

will tell

you that

day the

Pharisees

didn't get

what he

was saying

they didn't

like it

it made

them mad

and they

left mad

what I'm

telling you

today

can upset

you

on my

prayer by

the Holy

Spirit of

God

that it

will convict

you

to make

sure that

we do

everything

that we

need to

do

to be

right

where

God

wants

us

to be

we

can

can

and

should

build

our

lives

on him

today

but I

want you

to be

clear

because

Christ

is

clear

and

Christ

is

certain

accept

it or

not

believe

it or

not

just

like he

looked at

them in

the eye

I look

at you

in the eye

today

with certainty

to tell

you

your hope

is found

in the

Lord Jesus

he has

planted

opportunities

in your

life

for you

to respond

including

this one

today

as he

sends

workers

to you

let him

see his

harvest

respond in

obedience

don't

be

obstinate

don't

be

possessive

understand

that

everything

you

have

and

everything

you

are

was

given

to

you

by

God

and

because

we

are

a

fallen

humanity

and

because

each

one

of

us

has

sinned

individually

we

are

separated

from

God

for

all

eternity

unless

we

repent

and

turn

our

lives

over

to

Christ

Jesus

he's

where

we

start

thank

God

he's

where

I'll

finish

and

he

ought

to

be

everything

in

between

Christ

said

excuse

me

Paul

said

for

me

to

live

is

Christ

and

to

die

is

gain

friend

today

if

you

don't

know

him

give

your

heart

and

life

to

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

with

every

head

bowed

and

every

eye

closed

I

want

to

ask

you

this

morning

if

there's

ever

been

a

time

in

your

life

when

you've

accepted

the

Lord

Jesus

as

your

personal

Lord

and

Savior

if

there

hadn't

I

want

you

to

know

you

can

come

today

we'd

be

happy

to

guide

you

in

what

that

means

allow

God

to

work

and

move

in

your

life

as

only

he

can

maybe

maybe

you're

here

this

morning

and

you

know

that

that

has

happened

to

you

but

in

reality

you've

never

acknowledged

that

publicly

never

told

anybody

about

that

Jesus

by

his

example

and

by

his

command

has

told

us

to

make

that

public

through

baptism

and

I

encourage

you

to

simply

be

obedient

to

God

today

respond

to

him

if

you've

never

publicly

acknowledged

a

personal

faith

that

you

have

already

committed

to

we'd

love

to

guide

you

in

the

process

of

making

that

publicly

known

as

the

Bible

proclaims

for

us

to

do

maybe

you're

visiting

with us

today

and

God's

leading

you

to be

a part

of

this

church

I

just

ask

you

to

do

what

God

tells

you

to

do

we'd

happily

guide

you

in

that

process

or

maybe

you

just

need

to

get

your

heart

right

maybe

you

just

need

to

share

with

somebody

that

God

has

put

in

your

path

it's

been

my

prayer

that

the

Holy

Spirit

may

point

out

to

you

this

morning

somebody

that

he's

put

right

before

you

that

you

haven't

bothered

to

share

with

or

it

may

be

somebody

unbeknownst

to

you

like

I

experienced

last

week

just

walk

in

from

nowhere

and

begin

a

conversation

that

can

lead

to

a

gospel

conversation

I

don't

know

how

God

is

speaking

to

you

this

morning

but

I

know

you'll

never

be

satisfied

until

you

follow

him

and

I

know

he

has

a

way

based

on

the

story

that

Jesus

shares

to

bring

workers

in

our

path

to

give

us

opportunities

to

respond

in

obedience

it's

been

my

prayer

this

week

this

morning

and

even

this

moment

that

you'll

do

just

that

Lord

Jesus

I

love

you

and

I

thank

you

for

being

obedient

right

now

to

trust

you

Father

in

Jesus

name

Amen

stand